I thought I had decided on an 8" f4 newt, then (based on advice from a few people with far more knowledge and experience than I ) I had a rethink and decided to be sensible and get a 6" f4 or f5 (weight of the 8" f4 being too much for the HEQ5 Pro)

Thing is, one of the attractions of a Newt was cheap, but when you add the $339 of a baader MPCC III coma corrector, it doesn't seem quite so cheap anymore.

A 150/4 from Andrews for $399 - (awaiting new stock) plus $339 for the MPCC III = $738

Option 3

A 150/5 from Andrews at $379 plus MPCC III $339 = $718

Option 4

A 200mm 8" f4 CF newt from Andrews for $599. I've asked what the weight of this is, hopefully the CF will reduce the weight enough to make it viable on the HEQ5 plus the added bonus of extra stiffness of the CF.

Hi Andy
just remember with the ed80 from Teleskop Express will attract tax when it enters OZ if it works out over a grand .
have a look at some of Bintels imaging scopes mainly the Newts as they are quit well priced and they have after Pay and good after sales service .
plus the Newts are easy to collimate also depends on what you want to image and what camera you are using
cheers Pete

Andy, with that TS80 triplet,which is a very nice, well colour corrected scope, you will need to factor in the purchase of the reducer corrector at some point (which gives you flat field and faster focal length), or you could just buy the flattener without reduction. If you go down to the bottom of that page you linked, you will see the choices of the Photoline 2 or 3" reducer correctors or just the TS Flat flattener. So budget for that. Or image at the native focal length to start out.
The post below is correct, if your total cost, including shipping, reaches $1000 Aud you will need to pay GST, which is collected inbound. So given the present exchange rate and shipping you will get hit with inbound charges.
There is a way you can get it under the $1k threshold.

It is a little cheaper than the triplet but still very capable for imaging. Native f7 it reduces to f5.5 with the reducer corrector. It is also a little lighter than the triplet version. Importantly you can get it shipped to you here for less than $1k, that is delivered, so no inbound charges (GST). Make sure you specify DHL delivery in the shipping options as that is much cheaper than UPS and keeps you under the threshold.

Once you get the scope, you can order the reducer corrector of your choice, and bring it in on a new order, it will be under the GST threshold of course. Don't bundle the orders.

Which ever way you go, i recommend the 3" Photoline Reducer Corrector, its very good, i have it. You could save abit with the 2" version if needed but it won't suit the larger APOs in that family of scopes.

Of your other options, i believe Option 3 is preferable. It is abit easier to collimate an f5 and it has less native coma, you could see if you can buy a second hand Baader MPCC, they do come up now and then on the classifieds.
Don't worry about Carbon Fibre at that size.

I should tell you that i just bought a TS80 FPL-53 Doublet APO and it arrived under $1000. I already had the reducer corrector because i own its bigger brother as well. Those TS FPL-53 APOs are excellent value and have very good rack and pinon focusers. Good luck

There were a couple of things i didnt like about the GSO CF newt (apart from the wrong mirror being installed), its that collimation was an absolute hell. Not just because it was an f4 but the collimation screws themselves are like butter, they'll strip clean if you're not careful. If you are intending to get it, I'd suggest either install bobs knob (or equivalent) or replace the philips screws with more sturdy ones.

It is a little cheaper than the triplet but still very capable for imaging. Native f7 it reduces to f5.5 with the reducer corrector. It is also a little lighter than the triplet version. Importantly you can get it shipped to you here for less than $1k, that is delivered, so no inbound charges (GST). Make sure you specify DHL delivery in the shipping options as that is much cheaper than UPS and keeps you under the threshold.

Once you get the scope, you can order the reducer corrector of your choice, and bring it in on a new order, it will be under the GST threshold of course. Don't bundle the orders.

Which ever way you go, i recommend the 3" Photoline Reducer Corrector, its very good, i have it. You could save abit with the 2" version if needed but it won't suit the larger APOs in that family of scopes.

Of your other options, i believe Option 3 is preferable. It is abit easier to collimate an f5 and it has less native coma, you could see if you can buy a second hand Baader MPCC, they do come up now and then on the classifieds.
Don't worry about Carbon Fibre at that size.

I should tell you that i just bought a TS80 FPL-53 Doublet APO and it arrived under $1000. I already had the reducer corrector because i own its bigger brother as well. Those TS FPL-53 APOs are excellent value and have very good rack and pinon focusers. Good luck

Is there a difference between the TS and a Skywatcher ED80? From what I remember, both have FPL-53 lenses in them with about the same f ratio. You could get them super cheap used in great conditions and they pop up occasionally here in classified. You can get a made-for-ed80 reducer corrector for it for about $300 new.

Andrews have the mpcc3 for $299, but its a bit cheaper again from os. I got mine from firstlight optics UK for $265 and that was including $50 for standard shipping and it arrived in 7 days to my door in Mackay.

Is there a difference between the TS and a Skywatcher ED80? From what I remember, both have FPL-53 lenses in them with about the same f ratio. You could get them super cheap used in great conditions and they pop up occasionally here in classified. You can get a made-for-ed80 reducer corrector for it for about $300 new.

Yes there is a difference between the TS80 Doublet and the Skywatcher ED80. With the Skywatcher you would need the ED80 Pro version ( which has the dual speed Crayford style focuser) and is more expensive, and it is still f7.5. As Dunk has pointed out you would need to find a reducer corrector that worked with it, the one most often sighted is the 0,85 reducer corrector ( so it would go to f6.35. I agree they are cheap as used scopes but the objective in those older ones would need verifying. Imho the build quality of the TS80 and the solid imaging rack and pinion focuser is much better than the Skywatcher offering.

Andrews have the mpcc3 for $299, but its a bit cheaper again from os. I got mine from firstlight optics UK for $265 and that was including $50 for standard shipping and it arrived in 7 days to my door in Mackay.

The Baader MPCC MkIII is $205 Aud from Teleskop-Express (187 euro), you need to allow 36 euro, or $53 Aud for DHL shipping, so $285 Aud delivered (no GST, etc). In this case Andrews might be a better choice. There are other coma correctors as well but the Baader is highly regarded and suits DSLR standard sensor spacing.

A 200mm 8" f4 CF newt from Andrews for $599. I've asked what the weight of this is, hopefully the CF will reduce the weight enough to make it viable on the HEQ5 plus the added bonus of extra stiffness of the CF.

Price = $599 + MPCC $339 = $938

Andy

FYI this is the response I got from Luke at Andrews.com

"The weight of the OTA is approximately 8kg (this was using my simple set of scales at home which may not be totally accurate, but it would be close to this weight).

However, you should be aware that we only have one of these OTAs in stock and it seems as though either the tube length is wrong or the mirror cell is incorrectly located.

We discovered this when we sold the second last piece from our stock to a customer who reported that he was unable to reach focus with his camera.

We offered this customer a partial refund, which he accepted and kept the OTA.

Unfortunately, the last piece of this model we have in stock has the same problem, so you would not be able to focus a camera with this telescope at prime focus (our website will be updated to reflect this issue soon)."

"The weight of the OTA is approximately 8kg (this was using my simple set of scales at home which may not be totally accurate, but it would be close to this weight).

However, you should be aware that we only have one of these OTAs in stock and it seems as though either the tube length is wrong or the mirror cell is incorrectly located.

We discovered this when we sold the second last piece from our stock to a customer who reported that he was unable to reach focus with his camera.

We offered this customer a partial refund, which he accepted and kept the OTA.

Unfortunately, the last piece of this model we have in stock has the same problem, so you would not be able to focus a camera with this telescope at prime focus (our website will be updated to reflect this issue soon)."

oh snap, didnt know it was a recurring problem, i thought i was the only one affected by the mismanufacturing.

ED80 all the way. As a start up you'll never get better fun than a small refractor. Spend your money on a good mount and a decent camera. I wouldn't spend $1k on a refractor either. You can pick up a nice one second hand for a lot less money.

From there on you can play with guiding and imaging without having to worry about collimation or portability.

First ED80 I got for AUD265.00 and I kept it for 5 years. Loved that scope. Took it every where.

The cheaper one has fpl 51 glass and a 2" crayford focuser, the more expensive has fpl53 and 2.5" r&p focuser and seems to be overall better scope. If it were me I'd pay the bit more for a decent bit more quality.

Andy, Teleskop-Express offers a large, sometimes confusing, range of scopes. In the 80mm objective category i would suggest sticking with the Photoline APO, FPL-53 version, it is a good buy and deliveres to you for less than $1000. The focuser is the same strong 2.5" dual speed R&P unit used on the TS115 Photoline APO. They are well built scopes, and each one is checked by their techs, including collimation, before shipping.

Minor correction: if the cost *excluding* shipping is $1,000 or more then you have to pay GST. The GST is calculated on the cost *including* shipping.

Rick, the cost of the TS Photoline 80MM APO, with FPL-53 and 2,5" R&P focuser ( model TSAPO80f7) is presently 558 euros, or $835 Aud, shipping to Australia via DHL is 36 euros, or $54 Aud, hence total cost of getting it to your door is $943 Aud. So no GST is applied, and that is the combined total price. If the buyer opts for the slightly faster UPS shipment at 105 euros, the total cost would just trip over the $1000 threshold. I have used DHL without issue, and it provides tracking.

TS triple box these scopes, there is an outer shipping box and inside that, buried in foam beads, is the inner two boxes. The inner most box has a one piece EVA foam liner cutout to fit the scope exactly, with a lid. The EVA foam liner is the same liner used in the TS hardcases.